Overview

The problem of violence in schools has not gone away despite radical reductions in violent crimes throughout the country over the last decade. Students continue to harass, haze, and harm each other in a variety of ways, disrupting classrooms and entire schools. In the wake of the Columbine massacre, many focused on the worst kind of school violence: deadly assaults with dangerous weapons. But other forms of violence are more persistent, common, and just as destructive: fighting, sexual abuse, carrying weapons to school, vandalism, and assorted other crimes happen behind the closed doors of elementary, middle, and high schools across the country. The consequences range from violent victimization and death to fear and the disruption of learning among student bodies and teaching staffs. Thomas provides a foundation for understanding why violence occurs, preventing it from happening, and treating both offenders and victims after it takes place. Using scores of case descriptions to illustrate the types of school violence and their treatment in recent years, the author skillfully shows readers that the problem of violence and crime in schools is an insidious issue that cannot go untreated. He offers both tested and new methods for dealing with a host of violence issues as well as a guide to planning treatment of the problem and its associated consequences. He answers the questions: What are prominent types of violence in American schools? What conditions contribute to those types of violence? What methods can be applied in an effort to reduce school violence? Readers will come away from this book with a greater understanding of the scope of violence in America's schools, and the myriad ways of addressing it.

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9781578867097

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Thomas provides a foundation for understanding why the violence occurs, for preventing it from happening, and for treating both offenders and victims after it happens. Using scores of case descriptions, he shows how the problem of violence and crime in schools is an insidious issue that cannot go untreated. He offers both tested and proposed methods for dealing with a host of violence issues, as well as a guide to planning treatment of the problem and its associated consequenses. He answers the questions: What are prominent types of violence in American schools? What conditions contribute to those types of violence? What methods can be applied in an effort to reduce school violence? Readers will come away with a greater understanding of the scope of violence in America's schools, and the myriad ways of addressing it. Adolescence Magazine Examines a wide array of physical and psychological behaviors that jeopardize the security of students and school personnel, from vandalism to homicide. His research shows that while school violence perpetrated by students had decreased since the early 1990s, it remains common at all grade levels, with crime rates peaking around the middle school years. Thomas makes recommendations for the prevention of violent acts, but, for when such efforts fail, also advances a treatment approach that takes into account the type of crime committed, the purpose of the response, environmental conditions, and both the victim's and the perpatrator's needs. Education Week Pyschologist Thomas catalogs the escalation in violence that plagues schools today, from fighting, child abuse, and vandalism to bullying, disruptive behavior, and threat with deadly weapons. He begins by detailing the trends in school violence and crime statistics and delves into the stories behind them... Among the motivations Thomas cites for violent acts? Avenging low marks, copycatting, attention-getting, and personality disorders. He also explores methods that have proved helpful in reducing violence in schools. An informative look at a troubling social trend. Booklist Thomas presents both the bad news and the good news about the frequency of school violence in US schools. While there were about 738,700 violent crimes committed in a school setting reported in 2003, this trend has actually been declining over the past 15 years. After using case examples to define types of school violence and discussing the specific types of deadly weapons brought to schools, he focuses on approaches to treating violence. Reference and Research Book News

Author Information

R. Murray Thomas is Professor Emeritus, University of California, Santa Barbara, and the author of several books, including Religion in Schools: Controversies around the World, God in the Classroom, and Manitou and God.

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